itk-community-map

name	itk-community-map
description	A fast way to capture and prioritize stakeholders.
intent	Bring a thorough understanding of who your stakeholders are, how they will be impacted, and how to interface with them throughout the process. Develop a clearer prioritization of individuals to work with and engage.
type	component
phase	scope
outcome	scope
difficulty	beginner
group_size	8+ people
time_required	45+ minutes
best_for	["Kicking off a discovery initiative when stakeholder landscape is unclear and influence networks are undocumented","Onboarding to a new product domain where you need to map allies, decision-makers, and gatekeepers quickly","Planning cross-functional alignment for a feature touching multiple teams with competing priorities","Preparing a stakeholder engagement plan before a major roadmap or PRD review cycle","Building an inclusive research recruitment plan that captures underrepresented user and community voices"]
sources	["MITRE Innovation Toolkit (ITK)","https://itk.mitre.org/toolkit-tools/community-map/"]

COMMUNITY MAP

What Is It

A fast way to capture and prioritize stakeholders.

Why Use It

Bring a thorough understanding of who your stakeholders are, how they will be impacted, and how to interface with them throughout the process. Develop a clearer prioritization of individuals to work with and engage.

When to Use It

When the team needs to build a diverse and inclusive approach to collaboration so they can be mindful of the needs and priorities of the larger community.

How to Do It

1. Identify all the potential allies, audiences, and influencers for the topic. These may be individuals, organizations, or groups.
2. Write their names in the circles below – some may fit into more than one category.
3. Identify which individuals are the primary contact for any individuals or groups identified on the map, if applicable.
4. Identify which individuals on the map are most important. Determine how best to connect and build relationships with them.
5. Talk to these people to help refine your ideas, or figure out how to fold them into your research process later to validate your work.
6. Participants and audience members should discuss what went well, challenges, issues, and opportunities.

Key Concepts

Allies, Audiences, Influencers — The three core categories of the map: allies actively support your work, audiences are impacted by it, and influencers shape opinion or decisions. Sorting stakeholders this way clarifies who to recruit, inform, and persuade.

Primary Contact Routing — Identifying the single person who acts as the gateway to a group or organization. This prevents diffuse outreach and gives you an accountable entry point for engagement.

Stakeholder Prioritization — Ranking mapped individuals by importance so engagement effort concentrates where it changes outcomes. Without it, teams over-invest in low-leverage relationships and miss critical decision-makers.

Overlap Mapping — Recognizing that some stakeholders occupy multiple categories—an ally who is also a key influencer, for example. These overlaps often mark your highest-leverage relationships.

Inclusive Coverage — Deliberately surfacing the full community affected by a product, including quiet or underrepresented groups. This guards against building solutions that serve only the loudest or most visible stakeholders.

PM Applications

• Populate the stakeholder section of a PRD by mapping who must be consulted, informed, and approve before a feature ships.
• Build a research participant recruitment list for discovery sprints by ensuring allies, end-users, and influencers are all represented.